OUInsider - Owen Field

Even by her standards, Keilani Ricketts was good Friday night.

Ricketts was sensational – not a surprise – again, but this time it came against the top team in the country on the biggest stage, in front of the largest crowd.

And when it mattered most.

Oklahoma beat Cal 3-0 at Hall of Fame Stadium thanks to a left arm that the Bears had no answer for.

In a season where she’s already been named the USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year, Ricketts somehow didn’t just live up to the hype, she surpassed it.

Ricketts struck out 16, tying a season best, a day after setting the OU College World Series record of 11. In addition, Ricketts extended her streak to 40 innings in a row without allowing an earned run.

All that was more than enough to send OU to another win leaving them just one away from playing for the championship. The Sooners will play again at noon Sunday.

“What we’ve figured out was let’s just get here and take this as far as we can go,” coach Patty Gasso said. “We’re really focusing on one game at a time. Now, tomorrow we can sit back and relax and we can go back to planning for whoever it is we have to face. We’re taking it one pitch and game at a time and enjoying every minute of it.”

Cal managed just a pair of hits off Ricketts, while the Sooners were able to put together single runs in the third, fourth and sixth innings – the last coming on Georgia Casey’s 10th home run of the year.

“She has gone to another level,” Gasso said. “Just knows how to get locked in like never before, and I’ve seen her step up in clutch situations. She’s been doing that over and over. It’s been an absolute pleasure to watch.”

The only trouble Ricketts and the Sooners got in was in the sixth inning when Cal had the tying run at the plate with only one out after an error and an intentional walk. But Ricketts rallied by striking out the next two batters.

“This was one of our best games because we were hitting well and playing defense great,” Ricketts said.

In a year where Ricketts has dominated, the OU hitters continued their trend, too. One of the top power teams in the country, the No. 4-ranked Sooners came into the WCWS with 95 home runs and now has 97, the most in the country. And now, thanks to Casey, they have four players with 10 or more home runs this season.

Ricketts drove in one, earning a bases loaded walk in the fourth inning. Lauren Chamberlain didn’t homer, but she drove in a run with a double in the third inning and Casey accounted for the third run.

Ricketts improved to 35-7 on the season. She walked two and hit a batter. Cal’s Jolene Henderson took the loss, allowing five hits, two earned runs and walking four. Henderson fell to 37-3.

Tonight’s attendance of 9,209 sets a WCWS single-session record. The previous record of 9,080 (Session 5) was set two years ago (Georgia vs. Florida and Arizona vs. Hawaii). Session records have been set for each of this year’s three sessions (8,149 for Session 1; 8,235 for Session 2).